On the occasion of the 9th ASEM Summit, which will take place on November 5th 2012 and November 6th 2012 in Laos, Eurostat issues data on international trade in goods between the 27 Member States of the EU and the 19 partner countries taking part in ASEM.

According to the data published by Eurostat and the National Institute of Statistics, between 2000 and 2011, the share in EU 27 international trade in goods of the 19 partner countries' taking part in the Asia Europe Meeting increased steadily. From 2000 to 2011, the share of the ASEM partners in EU27 exports rose from 22% to 30%, and in imports from 36% to 44%. The EU 27 registered a trade deficit with the ASEM partners during the whole period, growing from EUR 174 billion in 2000 to a peak of EUR 300 billion in 2008, before falling to EUR 280 billion in 2011.

There was continued growth in international trade in goods between the EU 27 and the ASEM partners in the first half of 2012, with exports rising from EUR 226 billion in the first half of 2011 to EUR 255 billion in the first half of 2012, and imports up from EUR 373 billion to EUR 379 billion. The trade deficit continued to decrease in this period, from EUR 146 billion to EUR 124 billion. In the first half of 2012, the ASEM partners accounted for 31% of EU27 exports of goods and 43% of imports in the EU 27.

Between 2000 and 2011, EU27 trade increased with most of the individual ASEM partners. Among the largest ASEM trading partners, the highest growth in this period was registered with China, Russia and India and the largest decrease with Japan.

Among the EU27 Member States, Germany (88 bn euro or 35% of the total) was by far the largest exporter to the ASEM partners in the first half of 2012, followed by France (28 bn or 11%), the United Kingdom (26 bn or 10%) and Italy (20 bn or 8%). Germany (77 bn or 20%) was also by far the largest importer from the ASEM partners, followed by the Netherlands2 (63 bn or 17%), the United Kingdom (45 bn or 12%), France (32 bn or 8%) and Italy (31 bn or 8%). The largest deficits in the first half of 2012 were registered by the Netherlands2 (-45 bn), the United Kingdom (-19 bn), Austria (-12 bn), Italy (-11 bn) and Spain (-10 bn). The highest surpluses in trade with the ASEM partners were recorded by Germany (+11 bn) and Ireland (+1 bn).

Among the ASEM partners, China (73 bn euro or 29% of the total) was the leading destination for EU27 exports in the first half of 2012, followed by Russia (59 bn or 23%), Japan (27 bn or 11%), India (19 bn or 8%) and South Korea (18 bn or 7%). The leading source of EU27 imports from the ASEM partners was also China (140 bn or 37%), followed by Russia (107 bn or 28%) and Japan (33 bn or 9%). The highest EU27 deficits in trade with the ASEM partners in the first half of 2012 were recorded with China (-68 bn), Russia (-48 bn), Japan and Vietnam (both -6 bn) and the largest surpluses with Australia (+8 bn) and Singapore (+5 bn).

Source - Eurostat

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